XP Home to XP Professional Step Upgrade

I recently bought a new computer that had XP Home installed on it. I want to upgrade to XP Professional. I read somewhere that Microsoft would have a step upgrade (price $125) for those wanting to upgrade from XP Home to XP Professional. However, I cannot find it anywhere. So, am I stuck having to shell out $200 for the regular XP Professional Upgrade package? Has anyone had any experience(s) upgrading from XP Home to XP Professional?

1. RE: XP Home to XP Professional Step Upgrade
lbyard Jan-22-02 06:48 PM
In response to message 0

You can get the OEM (http://duxcw.com/faq/win/oem.htm) XP Pro full edition for around $140 if you shop around and clean install it (http://duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/oeminst.htm). Are you sure you need the Pro version (http://duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/diff.htm)? I don’t see where it adds much in capabilities over the home edition. "Pro" sounds nicer than "Home," I guess... Larry

2. RE: XP Home to XP Professional Step Upgrade
karlpl Jan-22-02 07:31 PM
In response to message 1

The reason I want XP Pro is for IIS and encryption of data files. XP Home doesn't include a personal web server nor can it encrypt files. I need the personal web server so I can develop web sites.

3. RE: XP Home to XP Professional Step Upgrade
lbyard Jan-22-02 08:36 PM
In response to message 2

I develop web sites without a local web server. I used to run IIS on NT, but found using the C: drive worked better and was certainly faster. IIS may be needed if you are going to do fancier stuff (than this web site). However, I believe I would setup Linux before I would use IIS again. Larry

4. RE: XP Home to XP Professional Step Upgrade
karlpl Jan-22-02 08:58 PM
In response to message 3

Here's a web site that gives details on the step upgrade:
http://www.wininformant.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=23649